Instant Banana Crunch Ice cream

I had a dream the other night that I owned an ice cream shop with my boyfriend and we only sold ice cream with frozen bananas as a base. We had flavors like banana-caramel, banana-vanilla, banana-chocolate, banana choc-chip, banana peanut butter, banana-pistachio and strawberry-banana!! It was a very funny dream but it made me realize how versatile banana ice cream can be! I will for sure try more flavors and post them!

While banana ice cream that is made only with bananas is not something new to the world of vegans and raw foodists I felt like I should do a post about it and give you my version, because it’s so darn good. Blended bananas make a very creamy, rich and yummy pudding so imagine a frozen version of this. Now if only you could whip some up in seconds, without an ice cream maker. As I have learned the past few months, with a powerful blender [aka Vitamix] everything is possible. For those that do not have such tool, other powerful blenders can be used, or even food processors.Try this recipe of banana ice cream and you will be amazed by its creamy texture and the crunch of cacao nibs. Also this recipe does not contain sugar, dairy, soy, gluten, fat or nuts. You know, one of those!

What you should know about freezing bananas :

-Bananas have to be peeled before going in the freezer
-Strings on bananas have to be removed, since they can be bitter
-Use sweet, ripe bananas for freezing
-Keep them in a zip lock bag
-Bananas need to freeze overnight to be made into ice cream
-Storing frozen bananas in your freezer means you can have instant ice cream any time

-Οι μπανάνες πρέπει να ξεφλουδιστούν πριν μπουν στην κατάψυξη
- Τα λεπτά “κορδονάκια¨που έχει η μπανάνα πρέπει να αφαιρεθούν γιατί μπορεί να πικρίζουν
-Χρησιμοποιήστε γλυκές, ώριμες μπανάνες
- Φυλάξτε τις στην κατάψυξη σε ένα zip-lock σακουλάκι
-Οι μπανάνες γα να γίνουν παγωτό πρέπει να μείνουν στην κατάψυξη τουλάχιστον για ένα βράδυ
-Εάν φυλάμε μπανάνες έτοιμες στην κατάψυξη μπορούμε να φτιάξουμε το παγωτό οποιαδήποτε στιγμή!

Ingredients for about 3-4 scoops:

-3 ripe frozen bananas/ 3 παγωμένες μπανάνες
-1tbsp lucuma powder/ 1κ.σ. σκόνη lucuma [optional]
-3 tbsp cacao nibs/ 3 κ.σ. κομμάτια καρπού κακάο
-1tbsp shredded coconut/ 1κ.σ. τριμμένη καρύδα

Place the bananas in the blender with the lucuma powder. Blend away on high using the tamper [if using a Vitamix] to help it blend for about 30 seconds, or more if needed but take care cause if you take too long it might start melting.
Transfer in a bowl and sprinkle with cacao nibs and coconut flakes. Serve immediately.

Βάζουμε τις μπανάνες σε ένα μπλέντερ ή μούλτι και χτυπάμε μέχρι να γίνουν κρέμα, περίπου 30″. Αν χρειάζεται και παραπάνω, αλλά προσοχή μην αρχίσει να λιώνει! βάζουμε σε ένα μπωλ και πασπαλίζουμε με καρύδα και κακάο. Σερβίρουμε αμέσως.